James Joyce and Derek Walcott: Colonial Island Voices

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JAMES JOYCE AND DEREK WALCOTT: COLONIAL ISLAND VOICES

Sebastian Terneus

A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of

The Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts & Letters

in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of

Master of Arts

Florida Atlantic University

Boca Raton, Florida

August 2011

JAMES JOYCE AND DEREK WALCOTT: COLONIAL ISLAND VOICES

Sebastian Terneus

This thesis was prepared under the direction ofthe candidate's thesis advisor, Dr. Julieann Ulin, Department ofEnglish, and has been approved by the members ofhis supervisory committee. It was submitted to the faculty ofthe Dorothy F. Schmidt College ofArts & Letters and was accepted in partial fulfillment ofthe requirements for the degree ofMaster ofArts.

Andrew Furman, Ph.D. Interim Chair, Department ofEnglish

Heather Coltman, D.M.A. Interim Dean, The Dorothy F. Schmidt College ofArts and Letters ~~T~~ 5";l,/'t./U?II Date f·

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The author wishes express to his sincere thanks and love to his parents, Joseph and Ximena, for their constant support and encouragement throughout the writing of this document. The author would also like to thank the efforts and guidance of his thesis committee members: Dr. Julieann Ulin, Dr. Elena Machado, and Dr. Raphael Dalleo. The help provided by these professors was essential in the development and completion of this document.

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ABSTRACT

Author: Sebastian Terneus Title: James Joyce and Derek Walcott: Colonial Island Voices Institution: Florida Atlantic University Thesis Advisor: Dr. Julieann Ulin Degree: Master of Arts Year: 2011 When analyzing literatures that expose the effects of colonialism one can identify similarities between the lives of the oppressed. Although colonization occurs in different times and locations the consequences upon the subjugated become comparable throughout history. One prominent pairing of mirrored colonial episodes can be identified in the literature of Irish author James Joyce and St. Lucian poet Derek Walcott. Both authors endured British colonialism and produced literatures which revealed similar themes and narratives. Yet simply because both authors lived through colonization does not equate their experiences as parallel. This thesis argues that Joyce and Walcott created comparable literatures because they experienced subjugation on islands. A comparison of

Joyce‟s Ulysses (1922) and Walcott‟s Omeros (1990) reveals the similar colonial experiences which were produced by island landscapes. Overall, this thesis will argue that the colonial turmoil which Joyce highlighted in Ulysses becomes mirrored in the postcolonial plot of Omeros.

DEDICATION This manuscript is dedicated to my loving parents who always motivated me to not only complete but exceed the expectations of any challenge I face in life. I would especially like to dedicate this work to my mother who always kept me in good spirits and constantly reminded me to “smile”. I also would like to dedicate this work to Mrs.

Cindy Fritz and Mrs. Mary Bevilacqua who were the first teachers who taught me the true weight of words.

JAMES JOYCE AND DEREK WALCOTT: COLONIAL ISLAND VOICES

Introduction: Joyce and Walcott as Colonial Island Voices ...... 1

Chapter One: Disabling Island Geography ...... 14

Chapter Two: The Inescapable Memories of Colonialism ...... 25

Chapter Three: The Search for Native Identities ...... 34

Chapter Four: The Colonizer‟s Identity ...... 46

Chapter Five: Conclusion ...... 54

Bibliography ...... 62

I. INTRODUCTION

In analyzing literatures that expose the effects of colonialism on different nations, similarities between the lives of the oppressed emerge. Although colonization occurs across different times and locations, the effects on the subjugated remain consistent throughout history. One example can be identified in the mirrored colonial literatures of

Irish author James Joyce and St. Lucian poet Derek Walcott. Both authors endured

British colonial oppression and produced literary texts which reveal similar themes and narratives. Yet simply because both authors lived through British occupation of their countries does not equate their experiences as parallel. I argue in this thesis that Joyce and Walcott present such comparable colonial literatures because they experienced subjugation on island nations. By comparing Joyce‟s Ulysses and Walcott‟s Omeros I will reveal the similar colonial experiences which were produced by island landscapes.

The geography of Ireland and St. Lucia provided comparable conditions which further connected the colonial lives of Joyce and Walcott. Overall, this thesis will expose how the colonial turmoil which Joyce highlighted in Ulysses becomes mirrored in the postcolonial plot of Omeros. The authors‟ similar narratives expose how the effects of colonialism on the oppressed are never fully alleviated with the passing of time.

The connections between Joyce and Walcott‟s colonial experiences are founded upon the island setting which both authors inhabited. Since Ireland and St. Lucia shared similar colonial histories this would further link the narratives and themes of Ulysses and 1

Omeros. Both islands were colonized by the British Empire who overtook the physical land by establishing plantations in the conquered nations. The Normans first invaded

Ireland in the 12th century and “seized land from old Irish nobility and established many towns, and built monasteries, abbeys and cathedrals” (Coohill 15). These primary raids by the Normans began the conquering of Ireland by means of taking the physical land from the natives. The British followed the path of the Normans and began to slowly infiltrate Ireland by establishing settlements and assimilating with the native people. In the 16th century Mary I “introduced the practice of „plantation‟ into Ireland, whereby recalcitrant Anglo-Irish and Gaelic groups were dispossessed of their land, and English settlers established in their places” (Coohill 19). These British constructions continued to spread across Ireland and displaced the native people from their own land. Consequently, the native forms of Irish culture and religion became supplanted by the invasion of

British Empire. Ireland itself became physically and socially altered through colonialism since its geography and population were radically changed.

Similarly, St. Lucia‟s colonial history also begins with the establishment of plantations upon the island. The British took over St. Lucia in the mid-17th century from the French and soon colonized the land. “Thousands of British and Scots adventurers descended on the island to repeat the success of planters in Barbados, the Leewards, and

Jamaica a century earlier. They quickly cleared forests, built mills, and then immediately imported thousands of new Africans” (Rogozinski 121). Like Ireland, the native St.

Lucian people and their culture were also displaced from their own country by British colonization. Consequently, Ireland and St. Lucia became areas of continual conflict due to the impositions placed upon the islands by the British. The turmoil caused by 2

colonialism became the shared burden which Joyce and Walcott exposed in their similarly motivated narratives.

Colonialism and Postcolonialism

Colonization became the factor which connected the lives and literature of Joyce and Walcott. Since both authors experienced subjugation by the British this lead to the production of the similar themes found in Ulysses (1922) and Omeros (1990). James

Joyce suffered through colonial occupation in Dublin since his birth in 1882. Joyce chronicled the subjugation and plight of the Irish caused by the domination of the British.

The urge to escape colonialism became a prominent theme which was presented in the various works Joyce produced throughout his life. Joyce would leave Ireland in 1903 to study medicine in Paris and also to break away from foreign rule. In 1909, Joyce briefly returned to Ireland yet he never revisited his colonized mother country again and stayed in self-imposed exile until his death in 1941 where he passed away in Zurich (“A Brief

Biography of James Joyce”). Although Joyce left his homeland he continued to depict its colonized condition throughout his works. Specifically, Ulysses expresses the arresting and problematic condition which the Irish endured during foreign occupation by the

British. Edna Duffy argues in The Subaltern Ulysses that Joyce‟s work displays “the entrenched late-colonial regime that was fostering a full-fledged subalternity in Ireland as the start of the new century” (3). Ulysses depicted how the Irish were subjugated by the

British Empire and made secondary citizens within their own country. Additionally,

Joyce highlights how the scars of foreign rule became inherent in the history and culture of the Irish. Joyce notes how existing within colonialism produces a lost sense of identity

both at the personal and national levels. Ulysses continually emphasizes the turmoil which the Irish faced while the English inhabited the colony. Yet overall, the island setting in Ulysses becomes the major factor which disables escape from colonization. The trapped existence the Irish face becomes attributed to their location on an isolated land mass. In the “Telemachus” and “Proteus” chapters of Ulysses, Joyce illustrates how

Ireland‟s island geography facilitated its infiltration by the outside colonial world.

Ireland‟s isolated location from other countries did not allow its citizens an easy escape to lands which were free from the factors of colonization. The nearest European countries surrounding Ireland were themselves colonial powers and would not be havens of liberty for the Irish. Instead, the Irish became stranded in their country and were left to deal with the foreign intrusions of the British. Joyce‟s Ulysses portrays how the Irish attempt to survive foreign occupation while attempting to reclaim their country and their personal identities.

Similarly, Derek Walcott‟s life on the island of St. Lucia created a setting which produced a colonial experience that mirrored Joyce‟s. Walcott was also born into colonialism since his birth in 1930 on the island of St. Lucia. Like Joyce, British foreign rule became a constant factor in Walcott‟s life as he experienced the effects of colonization. Walcott also left his native soil and journeyed to Trinidad, Jamaica and the

United States while publishing works dealing with the colonial turmoil occurring in St.

Lucia (Hamner 16). Recognizing that the Irish went through similar episodes of colonialism, Walcott became heavily influenced by works of Joyce and his Irish contemporaries. Walcott expressed this relation to the Irish by stating, “I‟ve always felt some kind of intimacy with the Irish poets because one realized that they were also 4

colonials with the same kind of problems that existed in the Caribbean” (Bauer 59).

Thus, it is no surprise that Walcott‟s epic poem Omeros (1990) presents the struggles of

St. Lucians trying to recover their identities in the aftermath of colonialism. Walcott‟s characters attempt to find relief in postcolonial St. Lucia yet they are inescapably surrounded by the influences of history. Walcott notes that no sanctuary can be found in

St. Lucia which is free from the remnants of the colonial world. Therefore, Omeros continues telling the colonial story which Joyce began in Ulysses and further extends it into the postcolonial era. Walcott shares with Joyce the notion that an island nation and its colonial past are inescapable regardless with the progression of time.

Although Joyce set Ulysses during the colonial period and Walcott wrote Omeros in the postcolonial era, both texts still present mirrored colonial experiences regardless of differing time periods. In both colonial and postcolonial eras the native people of the country had to deal with the intrusions of foreign influences. In both Ireland and St. Lucia the native people had to adapt to the changes which occurred to their original culture and identity before the introduction of colonialism. Therefore this thesis will argue how the colonial turmoil which Joyce presents in Ulysses also appears in the postcolonial narrative of Omeros. I will argue how the oppressors‟ intrusions upon culture and identity occurred in the time of colonial occupation and continued to exist within the postcolonial state.

Joyce‟s Ulysses focused on the direct effects of foreign rule on the Irish during colonial occupation. The Irish people‟s loss of identity and their need to escape subjugation becomes the major theme in Joyce‟s work. Walcott‟s postcolonial text

mirrors Joyce by continuing to expose the problematic burden placed upon the natives in the aftermath of colonialism. Omeros reveals that even when the structures of foreign governance have abandoned the colony there still remains the disorder which was present in the colonized nation. The natives continue searching for their identities and a form of escape from the island. These burdens become the obstacles which the people who remain in the newly liberated country must live through; this state becomes known as the postcolonial. Omeros exposes the fact that if there is to be any movement away from colonialism then the liberated must account for what the former oppressors have left behind. Consequently, the people who survive the outcomes of foreign occupation are left to restructure their lives and nations in the residue of colonialism.

Colonial residue becomes represented as the remnants of colonialism left behind in forms of thought, culture and physical presence. Thus, the term “postcolonial” becomes a misnomer since no colonized nation ever truly gets past the memories and effects of subjugation. Accordingly, Kwame Anthony Appiah contends that societies are only able to transcend “through colonialism but they are not all in the relevant sense postcolonial…they are not in this way concerned with transcending, with going beyond coloniality” (348). Consequently, the postcolonial phase can be seen more as a time when a country and its people take actions to move through the remnants of colonialism. By applying Appiah‟s idea of the postcolonial this thesis will expose how previously subjugated people must continue to deal with the colonial past while simultaneously managing to exist in the present. Omeros confirms Appiah‟s take on the “postcolonial” era since the St. Lucians must constantly cope with the memories of subjugation even after the British have left the island. Correspondingly, Anne McClintock expresses her 6

view on the misleading connotation of the “postcolonial” era. In „The Angel of Progress”

McClintock warns that the use of the term “postcolonial” is a “premature celebration of the pastness of colonialism which runs the risk of obscuring the continuities and discontinuities of colonial and imperial power” (88). Accordingly, Omeros is full of these

“continuities and discontinuities” which have been left on the postcolonial island of St.

Lucia. The ruins of sugar mills, plantations, and the damaged tropical landscape all become physical structures which continue to reflect the remnants of colonialism.

Therefore, I will also argue how the “postcolonial” setting presented in Omeros is littered with colonial burdens which also existed in Ulysses. Both works mirror each other regardless of the colonial situation they present since they mutually share the same problems due to colonialism. Ultimately, Joyce and Walcott‟s texts share the communal struggle of finding stability in a nation which has been affected by and continues to be affected by colonialism.

Review of the Critical Conversation

The similar colonial struggles which Joyce and Walcott shared have been noted and studied most recently since Omeros‟ 1990 publication. Scholars such as Maria

McGarrity have focused on how Joyce‟s Ulysses and Walcott‟s Omeros are comparable since both works present epic journeys that mirror those of Homer‟s Odyssey. McGarrity contends that Irish and Caribbean writers “have used classical imaginings of epic struggles and wanderings, the sea often plays a critical role as a realm of destruction, delay, and death, though it also has the power to convey information and return the hero to both the personal and cultural past” (80). Both Joyce and Walcott apply Homer‟s

Odyssey into their narratives in order to convey the struggles which the colonized people endure. The exile which the colonized people must face along with the tribulations of travel becomes noted in both Omeros and Ulysses. This thesis will touch upon the certain motifs that deal with travel and exile during and after colonialism yet the connection to

Homer‟s Odyssey will not be highlighted. Other recent publications by Michael Malouf and Charles Pollard have analyzed the influence which Joyce had upon Walcott‟s literature and development as a postcolonial writer. Malouf notes how Walcott‟s literary growth “relied upon an allegorical representation of Ireland as the Caribbean‟s opposite and Joyce, the exiled artist, as its ironic counterpart” (89). Likewise, Pollard reveals the debt which Walcott owes Joyce by stating: “Walcott traveled with Joyce throughout his career, but it is not until Omeros, that he is able to successfully navigate his relationship and to create his own New World Modernism” (199). Both Malouf and Pollard discuss how Walcott utilized Joyce‟s life and literature in order to develop his own texts about St.

Lucia. Although this thesis will not link Joyce and Walcott together in a biographical or authorial sense, it draws upon criticism that traces the influence of Joyce upon Walcott‟s literary development.

These recent critical examinations of the Joyce and Walcott connection have served as the foundation to further develop the colonial analysis between both authors.

This thesis extends this criticism and specifically magnifies how both authors‟ works present similar narratives which demonstrate how the oppressed deal with colonialism on an island. The geography of Ireland and St. Lucia will be analyzed in order to reveal how the island settings in Ulysses and Omeros produce geographic connections between the two texts. The colonial island becomes an arresting landscape which does not allow its 8

inhabitants to escape foreign oppression. Particularly, the depictions of the coastal shore in Ulysses and Omeros illustrate how the watery barriers of an island disable the colonized natives and prevent escaping colonial subjugation. These stranded natives are left to seek out and establish their identities during the turmoil of foreign oppression.

Joyce and Walcott both present how the subjugated embark on journeys of self-discovery in order to locate their positions during and after the time of foreign occupation.

Furthermore, this thesis will also highlight how the oppressed deal with colonialism on the island in both physical and psychological states. The physical will be embodied in the actions and presence of the oppressors as they try to insert themselves within the colony. The confrontations between the colonizers and the subjugated add to the disputes which colonialism brings to the islands. The psychological will be represented by the memories which the oppressed come to posses due to the lasting effects which colonialism produces. These memories continually remind the islanders of their subjugated status and ultimately keep them oppressed. Overall, this thesis will reveal that Joyce and Walcott‟s literatures present mirrored colonial experiences due to the communal island setting in both Ulysses and Omeros.

Chapter Outline

In the first chapter, “Disabling Island Geography”, I focus on how the island geography becomes a major connection between the colonial experiences depicted in the works of Joyce and Walcott. This chapter will reveal how an island‟s geography presents an imprisoning setting which strands its inhabitants from escaping the effects of colonialism. Joyce demonstrates in Ulysses how Ireland‟s island landscape continually

presents obstacles that disable the Irish from escaping colonialism. The “Telemachus” and “Proteus” chapters of Ulysses detail how the island‟s shore becomes an arresting area which disallows escape. The inability of the Irish to overcome their nation‟s watery barriers leads them to live in a restrained fashion. Joyce utilizes the character Stephen

Dedalus to present how the Irish continually become captured by the immensity of the surrounding ocean. The shore becomes characterized as being able to physically restrain

Stephen from leaving the coast of Ireland. Joyce reveals how the coast is a space which confines Stephen‟s legs and disallows him from going beyond Ireland‟s watery shores.

The “Telemachus” and “Proteus” chapters expose how the coast diverts Stephen from escaping Ireland through intimidation and physical confinement. Likewise, Walcott presents how St. Lucians also become unable to leave the island in the postcolonial era.

The character Philoctete becomes physically disabled by the remnants of colonialism which still exist on the liberated island. The coast once again becomes the factor which hinders the native from being able to escape the island. Philoctete becomes injured by an anchor which is embedded into the coast of St. Lucia. The islander‟s leg becomes so severely damaged that Philoctete cannot physically leave the island. Walcott reveals how the altered postcolonial coast of St. Lucia immobilizes its citizens and leaves them stranded on the island. Overall, this chapter will reveal how both authors‟ works note that the citizens of the islands become unable to flee the island due to the confining essence of the coast.

In the second chapter, “The Inescapable Memories of Colonialism”, I will argue how both Joyce and Walcott‟s literature center on characters that are incapable of escaping the memory of their countries‟ colonized condition. Stephen Dedalus in Ulysses 10

and an unnamed narrator character in Omeros travel away from their colonies yet are continually plagued with the recollection that they have abandoned their homeland. Both authors depict colonized Ireland and St. Lucia as physical mother figures to Stephen and the unnamed narrator. These mother figures become the homelands which the character abandon yet continually recall while they are away in foreign lands. Therefore, Joyce and

Walcott highlight how although the islanders can escape the colony they cannot forget the reality that their homelands are still affected by colonization. In Ulysses, Stephen rejects the wishes of his ailing mother to not leave Ireland yet ignores her pleas and escapes to Paris. All the while Stephen is in self-imposed exile he continually recalls that he has abandoned his country that continues to be under British rule. Stephen is unable to truly feel free from colonization since images of his suffering mother pervade his consciousness. These remembrances become so haunting that Stephen is unable to stay in

Paris and eventually returns to Ireland and colonization. Walcott expresses a similar scenario in Omeros when the unnamed narrator also leaves his ailing mother to travel to

America. Again the mother figure begins to haunt the consciousness of the exiled islander. The unnamed narrator is unable to exist in America without having recollections and guilt about the suffering country he has left behind. While traveling in America the narrator sees familiar scenes in the country which remind him of the colonial state which he attempted to escape. Like Stephen in Ulysses, the unnamed narrator also returns to St.

Lucia since he can no longer ignore the haunting recollections which plague his mind.

Both Joyce and Walcott reveal how the islanders can never truly escape colonialism since their consciousnesses become haunted by the memories of their suffering countries.

These remembrances become strong that both character eventually return to their

homeland and once again become affected by colonialism. Overall, Joyce and Walcott relay the idea that the consciousnesses of the islanders will forever be burdened by the effects of colonialism.

In the third chapter, “The Search for Native Identities”, I will focus on how Joyce and Walcott present characters who constantly struggle to attain their personal identities and positions in the colonial era. Both authors reveal how the search for identity becomes an actual physical journey which the natives undertake in order to seek out their true selves. Ulysses and Omeros both present characters that embark on travels in order to discover their personal identities. Joyce presents the struggle of Leopold Bloom to find his place in Irish colonial society. Bloom is unable to situate himself within the colonial country since he is of mixed Jewish and Irish descent. Joyce exhibits a character who wanders about Dublin seeking to establish himself as an Irish citizen. Yet since Bloom does not embody complete Irish characteristics he becomes ostracized as a foreigner by his fellow Irishmen. Joyce reveals the difficulty which Bloom must endure in order to attain his identity in colonial Ireland. Walcott also presents a similar character who seeks out the place of his birth in order to re-establish the African roots which colonization had severed. Achille travels back to Africa in hopes of re-gaining the heritage he lost during colonialism. Yet Walcott exposes that Achille cannot regain his lost African identity since he essentially has inherited the characteristics of being a colonized St. Lucian citizen. Therefore, Achille can only return to postcolonial St. Lucia and establish himself as man characterized by the effects of British colonialism. Overall, both Joyce and

Walcott present characters who seek out to establish their identities which colonialism have displaced by foreign rule. 12

In the fourth chapter, “The Colonizer‟s Problematic Identity,” I will focus on how

Joyce and Walcott present the struggle which the colonizers must overcome in order to establish their identities in a foreign land. Joyce and Walcott both introduce colonial figures who struggle to secure their prominence and social position among the natives.

Joyce depicts Haines as a British figure who inhabits Ireland during colonialism and tries to assert his prominence and position over Stephen Dedalus and other Irishmen.

Throughout the “Telemachus” and “Proteus” episodes of Ulysses, Haines attempts to conquer Stephen and Buck Mulligan by overtaking their home and language in order to establish his position as the dominant figure. Haines must conquer his Irish subjects in order to reaffirm his identity as British colonizer. Similarly, Walcott presents a British character named Sergeant Major Plunkett who also seeks out his identity in postcolonial

St. Lucia. Plunkett struggles to find his place within a St. Lucian society that no longer is subjugated by British rule. Plunkett continually acts and performs the role of a British colonizer in order to accrue dominion over the St. Lucians. Yet Walcott reveals how

Plunkett is unable to utilize his colonizer identity since the St. Lucian‟s no longer abide by the governance of the British Empire. Therefore, Plunkett must try and assimilate himself amongst the very people he used to subjugate and try to establish a new postcolonial identity. Both Joyce and Walcott expose the struggles which the colonizers must undergo in order to fulfill their identities and prove their superiority over the islanders.

I. DISABLING ISLAND GEOGRAPHY

Island geography becomes a major connection between the colonial experiences depicted in the works of Joyce and Walcott. Both authors note how an island‟s geography becomes an inescapable terrain for the natives. In Ulysses and Omeros, the shore area of the island landscape becomes a space which affects the natives from escaping the colony.

Both Joyce and Walcott note how the ocean barriers surrounding Ireland and St. Lucia disallows the colonized from reaching sanctuary in other nations. Ulysses and Omeros similarly note how an island‟s geography can hinder any attempts of escape. In Ulysses,

Joyce portrays how Stephen Dedalus is unable to overcome the watery borders of Ireland.

Stephen attempts to wade beyond the shoreline of the island but finds himself physically trapped by the surrounding ocean. Omeros also displays a similar scenario in which the character Philoctete becomes wounded by St. Lucia‟s shoreline. Philoctete‟s injury disables him from leaving the island and reaching freedom from the postcolonial country.

Both Joyce and Walcott highlight in their texts how an island‟s shoreline strands its inhabitants and prevents them from escaping the elements of colonialism.

Joyce demonstrates in Ulysses how Ireland‟s shore acts as an obstacle that disables the Irish from going beyond the coast of the island. The “Telemachus” and

“Proteus” chapters of Ulysses expose how the surrounding waters along Ireland are able to deter natives from traveling beyond the shore. The inability of the Irish to overcome their nation‟s watery barriers leads them to endure an arrested existence. Joyce utilizes 14

the character Stephen Dedalus to present the confined condition which the colonized suffer due to the inescapable setting they inhabit. Throughout Ulysses, Stephen continually becomes captured by the surrounding shoreline which he attempts to overcome. Joyce emphasizes Stephen‟s trapped predicament by giving him the surname

Dedalus which alludes to the Greek mythological character Daedalus who also was confined on an island. According to Ovid‟s Metamorphoses, Daedalus was detained in a labyrinth on the island of Crete and was also obstructed by the immensity of the surrounding sea (210-213). Joyce connects Stephen‟s trapped situation with that of

Daedalus‟ in order to expose how both characters are confined by an island‟s geography.

The physical environment of the island becomes the obstruction that keeps Stephen from reaching freedom in Ulysses. Through Stephen‟s actions and thoughts Joyce conveys the idea that Ireland‟s geography becomes a relentless and arresting obstacle.

Joyce continually presents the trapped existence which Stephen feels as he travels along the watery coasts of Ireland in the “Telemachus” episode of Ulysses. Stephen becomes depicted as an islander who frequently observes the arresting island landscape which he becomes imprisoned by. In “The Epic Drives of Joyce and Walcott” Maria

McGarrity expresses that small island contain “landscapes with such a relatively finite space to denote, their inhabitants turn to gauging the sea and sky, in fact even the horizon itself, as a place beyond though intimately connected to life” (87). Therefore, Stephen continually analyzes the surrounding watery borders that enclose him in order to gauge the range of mobility which Ireland allows him to have. Ulysses begins by presenting

Stephen being confined in the Martello Tower which overlooks Dublin Bay. Stephen‟s trapped condition becomes immediately apparent as he is depicted as a prisoner not only 15

of Martello Tower but also the surrounding island geography. The vast immensity of the open ocean becomes the first scene which Stephen gazes upon in the morning as Ulysses begins. This landscape becomes an instant reminder to the Irish character that he remains trapped by the oceanic barriers of Ireland. Stephen further realizes his problematic situation as he notices that the ocean “lay beneath him, a bowl of bitter waters” (Ulysses

1. 249). The sea becomes characterized as an engulfing and tormenting essence which completely surrounds Ireland and therefore confines Stephen. Additionally, Stephen‟s friend Buck Mulligan reveals the scrotumtightening” (Ulysses 1. 78) and unconquerable character of the ocean which surrounds Ireland. Buck reflects the trepidation which the

Irish feel towards the immense oceanic obstacle which dominates the borders of the island. Both Stephen and Buck express how they share the anxiety towards the indomitable nature of the vast sea. The two Irish characters note how they are intimidated by the immensity of the ocean and how it is able to restrain them from escaping the island and colonialism. The immense task of overcoming the ocean leaves Stephen in a defeated spirit and in a permanently subjugated position. The ocean‟s enormity becomes so petrifying that Stephen develops an aversion from even coming into contact by the watery borders. Buck Mulligan exposes Stephen‟s fear of the sea by noting that “the unclean bard [Stephen] makes a point of washing once a month” (Ulysses 1. 475). Yet

Stephen immediately responds to his exposed terror by pointing out that “all Ireland is washed by the gulfstream” (Ulysses 1. 476); alluding to Stephen‟s awareness that his country is continually restrained and bound by the force of the ocean. Therefore, the

“Telemachus” episode of Ulysses positions Stephen as an islander inhabiting a landmass continually surrounded by an unconquerable sea. Joyce exposes the challenging scenario

which the Irish must continually confront as they have become imprisoned in their own country. Escape becomes an unimaginable action since the watery expanses surrounding

Ireland have become relentless obstacles to freedom.

Similarly, in the “Proteus” episode of Ulysses Stephen once again analyzes the physical surroundings which leave him unable to escape Ireland. Joyce places Stephen on the very shores of the island in order to demonstrate how the colonized becomes obstructed by the physical elements of the coast. Stephen looks upon the shore‟s ground and recognizes the various components which create his geographic prison; “signatures of all things I am here to read, seaspawn, and seawrack, the nearing tide, that rusty boot.

Snotgreen, bluesilver.” (Ulysses 3. 4-6). Stephen notices how the coast of Ireland constantly becomes overtaken by the encroaching tide and engulfed into the immensity of the ocean. Ireland‟s physical land becomes as space which is overtaken by the neighboring ocean. The coast becomes a significant area since it harbors Stephen‟s only form of escape from Ireland – the open sea. Yet simultaneously the coastal region also becomes the most problematic for Stephen because it physically restrains him from leaving the island. As Stephen walks upon the watery border he begins to feel the actual shore ensnare him into the ground. The shores of Ireland‟s sandflats waited “to suck

[Stephen‟s] treading soles, breathing upward sewage breath, a pocket of seaweed smoldered in seafire under a midden of man‟s ashes” (Ulysses 3. 150-152). The coast becomes personified as an area that deters Stephen from escaping the island by physically restraining him. The watery shores are able to swallow Stephen‟s legs and disable him from trying to break away from the island. Additionally, the “midden of man‟s ashes” which the coast contains becomes another warning to Stephen of the lethal consequences 17

that can occur to him if he tests the island‟s barriers. These various coastal obstructions lead Stephen to imagine the shore as “a sentinel” guarding an “isle of dreadful thirst”

(Ulysses 3. 154). Ireland becomes represented as a nation which desires for freedom to the outside world.

Eventually Stephen attempts to wade into the shoreline yet feels “his feet beginning to sink slowly in the quaking soil” and immediately decides to “turn back”

(Ulysses 3. 269). Joyce notes how the coast is able to physically restrain Stephen by attempting to fasten him into the physical geography of Ireland. Stephen recognizes the dangers which the coast presents and instantly remembers the consequences for trying to escape Ireland. Recalling the recent “man that was drowned nine days ago off Maiden‟s

Rock” (Ulysses 3. 322) in the bay which Stephen walks upon leads him to abandon all hope of escaping Ireland. Recalling the memory of the man who died in the ocean scares

Stephen from attempting any further attempts at going beyond the coastal boundaries of the island. Stephen correlates his life with that of the drowned man as he imagines “a drowning man, his human eyes scream to me out of horror of his death. I… with him together drown…Waters: bitter death: lost” (Ulysses 3. 328 -330).

Ultimately, Stephen realizes the fatal consequences which attempted escape from the island can produce. The geographic region where land meets sea becomes the most challenging area for Stephen to tread upon. Ironically, the shore is the only route to freedom yet any attempt to leaving the island will bring deadly consequences. Joyce presents Stephen as a character who tries to challenge the physical geographic boundaries of the island and make an effort to escape. The “Proteus” episode in Ulysses

demonstrates the stranded condition which the Irish are condemned to since they live upon an island guarded by oceanic expanses. The overbearing presence of the ocean becomes a force which Stephen and the Irish are not able to overcome. The shore represents the largest obstacle which the natives must defeat if they are ever to leave

Ireland. Unfortunately, attempts at escape lead only to deadly consequences which are supported by recent drowning of a Dubliner in the bay. Stephen‟s aversion towards the sea becomes further reinforced and hopes for escape becomes even more diminished.

Overall, Joyce presents the shore as the indomitable geographic region which becomes the obstruction that the Irish must challenge if they are to escape from the island.

Both the “Telemachus” and “Proteus” episodes of Ulysses demonstrate the contained condition which the Irish are condemned to. Joyce highlights how the geography of the island nation creates an imprisoning landscape which leaves the Irish to face colonial subjugation. Thus, the native citizens are left without any option for escape and can only surrender to being conquered by both the British and also the ocean. The sea which surrounds the island landscape becomes the indomitable force which the Irish constantly observe and cannot overcome. Joyce pits Stephen against the immensity of the ocean in order to display how the Irish are unable to escape their own nation due to the surrounding watery barriers. Stephen reveals how he has developed a strong aversion to the ocean by refusing to have any contact with the element. By not bathing or stepping into the ocean Stephen displays how he has surrendered any attempt of even trying to escape Ireland. The memory of a recent drowning further reinforces Stephen‟s awareness that freedom from the island only leads to certain death. Stephen traveling along the shoreline of Ireland shows the physical boundary which prevents the Irish from crossing 19

into freedom. Joyce utilizes the geographic location of Ireland in order to present an arresting landscape. The subjugation of the Irish through colonization becomes solidified since no escape can be found from the island. Ultimately, Joyce demonstrates that the

Irish are left marooned on their nation to face the governance of the British.

Similarly, Walcott presents how in specific instances St. Lucia‟s postcolonial geography disables some of its citizens from leaving the island. Although certain St.

Lucians are able to leave the island there are others who become trapped by the altered landscape. In the aftermath of colonialism St. Lucia‟s land has been drastically changed due to its occupation and utilization by the British Empire. Walcott professes that St.

Lucia was easily taken over since “the bearded elders endured the decimation of their tribe and land without uttering a syllable” (Omeros 1. 2. 13-14). The island‟s natural resources and original landscape have been altered by the processes which colonization produced. The British colonizers changed St. Lucia‟s by “hacking the trunks of wrinkled giants” by utilizing the “fire‟s banner and the remorseless axe” (Omeros 1. 2. 27-33) to rob the island of its resources. The tropical landscape that used to exist in St. Lucia has been replaced with sugar mills and plantations that aided the British in pillaging the island‟s assets. These constructions of colonialism now litter the land and reflect a time when St. Lucia was under foreign rule. Consequently, Walcott presents these constructions as a physical form of colonialism which has become embedded into the geography of the island. Therefore, the remnants and rubble of an empire have become inserted into the geography of St. Lucia which has changed the character of the land. The island itself becomes physically affected by colonialism in a way that has left it drastically wounded. Since the geography has become damaged then the inhabitants 20

living upon the land must also suffer a similar affliction. The St. Lucians are left to deal with the postcolonial condition of their island which remains inhabited with the remnants of past colonial oppression.

Walcott displays how St. Lucia‟s wounded landscape establishes a setting which affects its citizens. Once again, the ocean barriers that encircle the island create an overbearing obstacle which does not allow its citizens to attain freedom. Yet in the postcolonial era the landscape becomes further problematic since it now contains the rubble of the past. Walcott notes how the St. Lucians existing in the postcolonial era are left to cope with the wounded status of their island:

North of the village is a logwood grove whose thorns litter its dry shade. The broken road has boulders and quartz that glistens like rain. The logwoods were once part of an estate with its windmills as old as the village below. The abandoned road runs past huge rusted cauldrons, vats for boiling sugar, and blackened pillars. There are the only ruins left here by history, if history is what they are (Omeros 1. 5. 1-8) St. Lucia becomes depicted as a land littered with the physical remnants of colonial occupation. The natural landscape has become destroyed in order to make way for sugar mills and plantations for the colonials to utilize. In Omeros, Walcott presents the character Philoctete who is directly affected by the postcolonial condition of St. Lucia.

The many years of foreign occupation has left the island in a damaged condition which

Philoctete must cope with. This wounded scene of island geography is where the character Philoctete establishes his home. Ironically, Philoctete comes to settle his life amongst the ruins of colonialism and the damaged landscape of St. Lucia. This area of destroyed island landscape also becomes the very location where Philoctete becomes injured by the postcolonial geography. Philoctete is wounded by a remnant of colonialism

which is embedded into the terrain of the island‟s coast. The “scraping of a rusted anchor” (Omeros 1. 2. 12-13) against Philoctete‟s leg leaves him hobbled and unable to leave St. Lucia.

Thus Walcott notes how the citizens of St. Lucia reflect the wounded status of their damaged island; both the country and its citizens come to share the injured condition which colonialism has produced. Walcott characterizes Philoctete‟s wound as an injury

“which will never heal” (Omeros 1. 3. 78) since St. Lucia‟s terrain will forever harbor the remnants of colonialism. Since history cannot be extracted from the island the land and its people will continually endure the colonial factors of the past. In “The Design of

Derek Walcott‟s Omeros”, John B. Van Sickle argues that Philoctete‟s wound “acquires historical significance as a symbol of slavery‟s pain” (10). Therefore, Philoctete comes to realize the dual significance of his wound and how “the cross he carried was not only the anchor‟s but that of his race, for a village black and poor as the pigs that rooted in its burning garbage” (Omeros 1. 3. 88-89). The wound becomes symbolic of the dual burden which St. Lucia and its citizens suffer in the postcolonial era.

Later in Omeros, Philoctete eventually becomes healed from the pain of his wound by a remedy composed of salt water and the root of a native St. Lucian plant.

Walcott notes that although the shoreline disabled Philoctete from escaping the island it also was able to heal him. The ocean‟s water becomes a remedy “that seasoned the wound with its salt...sutured the wound that Philoctete was given by the sea” (Omeros 5.

38. 51-54). Yet, the island is only able to heal Philoctete‟s physical pain and not the mental anguish of the wound. Consequently, since the wound is not completely cured

“all the pain re-entered Philoctete, of the hacked yams, the hold closing over their heads, the bolt-closing iron, over eyes that never saw the light of the world, their memory still there although the pain was gone” (Omeros 5. 40. 135-137). Walcott notes that although physical pain can be alleviated the wound of colonial history cannot be. Both St. Lucia and Philoctete are unable to rid themselves of the factors of the past. Ultimately,

Philoctete cannot truly be freed from the St. Lucia or the slavery which his countrymen endured.

Overall, both authors‟ works note that the natives are unable to flee from colonial influences since they are trapped on an island. Joyce presents how Ireland‟s overwhelming watery barriers prevent Stephen from escaping the island‟s shores.

Ireland‟s physical geography becomes so arresting that Stephen cannot even venture out onto the nation‟s coast without fear. Likewise, Walcott presents how St. Lucia‟s postcolonial geography affects its citizens in a disabling manner. Philoctete‟s wounded condition becomes inherited from the very nation he exists in. Walcott notes how the postcolonial landscape of a nation directly affects its citizens as well. Philoctete becomes incapable of escaping postcolonial conditions since he is physically burdened by the atrocities of the past. Overall, both Joyce and Walcott assert that the island landscape becomes a space which harbors the effects of colonialism. Being surrounded by water does not allow for the native islanders to escape subjugation or the anguish of the past.

Accordingly, Maria McGarrity contends that the characters in Ulysses and Omeros:

“Both ultimately discover that the effort to escape any labyrinth, whether it is culture, city or nation, only makes one its prisoner” (86). Stephen and Philoctete ultimately end up stranded on the shores of their islands without hope of escape. Whether physically 23

wounded or mentally petrified, the landscape of the island arrests the natives from attempting any liberating actions. The island landscape element becomes a factor which reveals the congruencies between the literatures of Joyce and Walcott. The similar geography which is present in Ulysses and Omeros becomes the element which joins both authors‟ colonial narratives and sets the basis for both plots. Stephen and Philoctete become prime examples of how the island geography can similarly affect two citizens of different colonized countries. Therefore, the setting which Ulysses and Omeros share must be taken into account in order to substantiate the various similarities within both narratives. Overall, the island landscape becomes an unconquerable setting since it directly affects the abilities and lives of its inhabitants.

II. THE INESCAPABLE MEMORIES OF COLONIALISM

Joyce and Walcott‟s literatures also connect by presenting how the native‟s minds also become affected by colonialism. Foreign rule does not only occupy the physical land but also invades the consciousness of the natives. Therefore, Ulysses and Omeros expose how the colonized cannot escape the memory that they have been subjugated by outside oppressors. Both texts reveal how the colonized attempt to abandon their native countries yet the exiled find that their consciousnesses continue to be burdened by colonialism.

Ulysses and Omeros embody the colonized nations as mother figures whom the natives abandon to the mercy of foreign oppression. This maternal figure becomes the essence which haunts the consciousnesses of the characters that try to leave the islands behind.

Ulysses portrays how Stephen Dedalus has become haunted by his mother‟s ghost which represents Ireland. Stephen is ultimately unable to leave Ireland due to being burdened by the spirit of his mother country. Omeros also displays a similar scenario in which the narrator of the novel tries to leave St. Lucia. Throughout his journey away from the island the narrator cannot escape the haunting memories of St. Lucia. Both authors highlight how in either the colonial or postcolonial era the memory of subjugation becomes ingrained within the consciousness of the colonized and cannot be forgotten.

In Ulysses, Joyce presents how an islander‟s consciousness becomes overtaken by the memories of colonialism. Stephen Dedalus finds that his mentality has become invaded by colonial recollections which disable him from forgetting his subjugated status 25

even when he leaves Ireland. Although Stephen is able to physically escape colonialism he still cannot release himself from the mental burdens which foreign oppression has placed upon him. Moreover, the memories of colonialism which Stephen possesses leave him unable to completely separate himself from the colonized nation. Joyce highlights how history and heritage have become ingrained into Stephen‟s consciousness and therefore cannot be repressed. Stephen is presented as a character that becomes mentally trapped by his consciousness which has become infiltrated by memories of subjugation.

At the end of Joyce‟s A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, Stephen decides to leave

Ireland in order to “forge in the smithy of [his] soul the uncreated conscience of [his] race” (Portrait 276). By escaping colonialism Stephen hopes to become liberated from

Ireland and his subjugated status. Before leaving Ireland Stephen bluntly declares, “I will not serve that in which I no longer believe whether it call itself my home, my fatherland or my church” (268). At the end of Portrait Stephen ultimately seeks to disown all the outside factors which define and command his life by leaving Dublin for Paris. Catholic

Religion, Irish nationality, and British colonialism all become the elements which

Stephen thinks he can rid himself of by going into self-imposed exile. Portrait ends in a fashion that would lead one to believe that Stephen is finally able to detach himself from foreign oppression and become a liberated individual. Yet ironically Joyce‟s next novel,

Ulysses, begins with Stephen back in Ireland and once again held captive by colonialism.

Joyce depicts Stephen as a thwarted character in order to demonstrate the futility of escaping colonialism. Stephen is brought back to Ireland in order to visit his mother who is nearing her death. Joyce utilizes the mother figure as a representation of the colonized

Ireland which Stephen continually tries to detach himself from. The mother‟s

deteriorating condition reflects the plight which Ireland suffers due to British colonialism.

In “State of the Art: Joyce and Postcolonialism”, Emer Nolan notices how Stephen perceives the “the figure of the demanding mother as the primary bearer of images of nationality” (174). Therefore, it is important to note that the mother figure returns

Stephen back to Ireland and subjugation. Irish heritage and history become the factors which draw Stephen back into colonialism. Once back in Ireland Stephen attempts to reject the wishes of his dying mother by refusing to kneel before her and pray. Stephen‟s friend Buck Mulligan highlights Stephen‟s callous rejection of Ireland‟s requests by exclaiming, “think of your mother begging you with her last breath to kneel down and pray for her. And you refused. There is something sinister in you.” (Ulysses 1.93-94).

Stephen‟s refusal to fulfill his mother‟s wish reflects how he attempts to deny allegiance to Ireland and also its Catholic religion. Although Stephen physically denies his allegiance to Ireland his consciousness does not allow him to forget his colonized status.

The “Telemachus” chapter of Ulysses highlights how the consciousness of the colonized can never become be separated from the colonial past. Stephen is presented as a character who is cannot disconnect his mentality from his colonized past. Stephen‟s dismissal of Ireland generates a haunting guilt in him since he has betrayed his mother country. Joyce utilizes the ghost of Stephen‟s mother as a figure who continually visits

Stephen and reminds him of his nationality and past. Ireland begins to torment Stephen‟s consciousness by appearing to him “in a dream, she had come to him after her death her wasted body within its loose brown graveclothes” (Ulysses 1.102-103). The colonized country becomes depicted as a ravaged character that haunts Stephen by reminded him of the past which he attempts to evade. Joyce repeats this detailed episode of Stephen being 27

visited by Ireland in the “Telemachus” chapter in order to show the degree in which Stephen‟s consciousness has become tormented. National heritage and identity are factors which Stephen cannot elude since they have becomes a part of his consciousness.

Ireland becomes a nightmarish essence which constantly reminds Stephen of his colonized status. Stephen‟s becomes vexed by the past which he continually tries to forget since his “memories beset his brooding brain” (Ulysses 1. 265) as he becomes.

Throughout the “Telemachus” episode Stephen continually recalls the haunting essence of his mother following him throughout Dublin. Joyce notes how memory has become a factor which Stephen is unable to disregard since it has become harbored in his consciousness. Therefore, colonial history becomes a factor which keeps Stephen restrained in his thoughts and mental liberty. Stephen continually struggles to escape from the past and even proclaims how “history is a nightmare from which I am trying to awake” (Ulysses 2. 377). Stephen realizes that since he has become colonized then he has also become subjugated by history itself. The irreversibility of history leaves Stephen in a powerless position which does not allow him to escape his circumstance. Thus, Joyce highlights how the colonized‟s consciousness becomes plagued by the effects of foreign intrusion. Ireland becomes represented as a haunting figure that plagues Stephen‟s mentality and reminds him of the nationality and heritage which he attempts to forget.

Stephen confesses that he continually sees “her [Ireland] glazing eyes, staring out of death, to shake and bend my soul” (Ulysses 1. 273). Stephen‟s mind is unable to escape the constant tormenting reminders of colonialism and also the heavy burden which his exile has caused him. Joyce notes how colonialism does not only affect the subjugated physically but also mentally since the consciousness is equally affected. Furthermore,

heritage and identity cannot be disregarded by Stephen attempts to leave his colonized.

The “Telemachus” chapter of Ulysses displays how the colonized is unable to detach themselves from the memories and history of colonialism.

Walcott also notes how the colonized become affected by the memories of the past. Even in the postcolonial era the liberated islanders continue to carry colonial history within their minds. Omeros mirrors Ulysses by also presenting an unnamed narrator character who attempts to leave St. Lucia in order to free himself from the colonized past yet finds that he cannot break away from his memories. The narrator character mirrors

Stephen Dedalus‟ defiant actions by attempting to reject his nationality and heritage by seeking refuge in a foreign country. The narrator character attempts to abandon his mother country yet finds that St. Lucia‟s essence follows him along in his travels. Just as in Ulysses, the colonized nation becomes represented as a mother figure in a deteriorating condition. Walcott first presents the narrator in St. Lucia sitting bedside next his mother who is slowly losing her life. The narrator admits how frail and deteriorated his mother has become due to the hardships of colonialism by noting how “[he] felt [he] could lift

[his] mother, in the cup of [his] hand and settle her somewhere else” (Omeros 32. 3-5)

Just as Ireland is presented in Ulysses, St. Lucia is represented as a country that continues to suffer from the effects of colonial oppression. Walcott depicts the island of St. Lucia as a woman whose “brightness had withered like memory‟s flower” (Omeros 32. 29-34).

Walcott describes St. Lucia‟s fleeting vitality by revealing how “her days were dim as dusk. There were no more hours” (Omeros 32. 31), as if to hint to the defeated spirit of the nation. The mother‟s condition leads the narrator to feel shame and disgust as he sees his mother in such a broken condition. The narrator confesses his detachment from St. 29

Lucia when he perceives the land as “another country, whose excitable gestures I knew but could not connect with my mind” (Omeros 32. 61-62) and thus decides to escape the island. Like Stephen Dedalus, the narrator also chooses to reject the elements which link him back to colonialism. Exile is the only solution which the narrator feels can truly detach him from St. Lucia. Yet the narrator character cannot disconnect himself from his colonial past simply by traveling away from St. Lucia. The narrator‟s consciousness is a location that harbors the memories of the past and is able to re-colonize the islander. Yet even when the narrator escapes to America he continually has recollections of St. Lucia that bring him back to the country he attempted to leave. Walcott reveals in Omeros that the formerly oppressed will forever carry the burdens of the colonial history in their memories regardless of location and time.

While in America the narrator identifies various events that occurred in the country‟s history which remind him of colonial St. Lucia. The narrator confesses that even in America he would hear “unsettling noises from tongues of speech I no longer understood but where my flesh did not need to be translated” (Omeros 32. 63-64). The narrator becomes reminded of the country and past which he has attempted to escape even when he is far away from St. Lucia. These recollections draw the narrator back into past which he attempted to detach himself from by leaving the island. While the narrator moves across the Dakotas he recalls how the Sioux Indians were overtaken by the actions of American frontiersmen. Immediately the narrator feels a connection to the Sioux since he relates their sufferings to the ones the St. Lucians have endured. The narrator is able to feel the pain of the Sioux Indians as he visualizes “a spike hammered into the heart of their country” which later also “entered [the narrator‟s] heart” (Omeros 34. 32-33). The 30

narrator associates himself with the Sioux Indians as his memories of colonialism are resurrected in America. The narrator is able to feel the pain and oppression felt by the

American Indians since he has endured a similar life of subjugation. This connection to the Sioux continues on as the narrator recalls the Trail of Tears which the Sioux had to endure. Once again the narrator links himself to the exiled Indians since he too has left his homeland due to the pressures of external forces. Furthermore, the narrator is able to connect himself to Sioux since they were a civilization that was overtaken by a foreign empire. Walcott notes how the colonial past becomes revived in the mind of the islander even in a country far away from St. Lucia.

The narrator moves towards the southeast of America and once again finds another place which resurfaces his memories of colonialism. As he moves through this section of America the narrator encounters the memory of “the necessary evil of slavery, in the catalogue of Georgia‟s marble past, the Jeffersonian ideal in plantations with its

Hectors and Achilles” (Omeros 35. 11-12). Consequently, the slavery of Africans in

America becomes a prominent event that makes the narrator reencounter the thoughts of colonialism in St. Lucia. The narrator imagines that the descendants of St. Lucian citizens

[Hector and Achille] could have existed on the plantations of the American South.

Slavery becomes another element which makes the narrator recall his colonial past. As the narrator passes through the South he recognizes the remnants of colonialism in

American and the damage it has done to Africans. Although never physically manacled himself, the narrator feels a bond to the African slaves since both people were subjugated by intruding empires. The differences between slavery and colonization does not make the narrator feel distanced from the Africans “but instead linked him closer to them by 31

that metal chain… as if [they] all stood at a lectern or auction block” (Omeros 40. 99-

103). Walcott alludes to the fact that the narrator feels a colonial connection with the

African slaves since both groups have endured much oppression. Colonial St. Lucia becomes a factor which the narrator cannot forget or suppress even as he travels to

America.

The narrator eventually seeks to come to terms with his colonial past in order to not to be succumbed by it. The narrator realizes that he must live with his colonial memories which have become such an integral part of his identity. As the narrator returns to St. Lucia from his travels in America he acknowledges the fact that he can never truly escape his recollections of colonialism. This realization becomes solidified when the narrator encounters the St. Lucian elder character known as Seven Seas. Upon returning to St. Lucia the narrator is greeted by Seven Seas on the shores of the island who tells him: “You ain‟t been nowhere, you have seen nothing no matter how far you may have travelled… you have learnt no more than if you stood on that beach watching the unthreading foam you watched as a youth (Omeros 58. 51-55). The narrator concludes that no matter how far he travels he will always be defined by the colonial past and admits that “I do not live in you [St. Lucia], I bear my house inside me, everywhere”

(Omeros 33. 124-125). Ultimately, the narrator comes to terms with his past and eventually “lived there [in St. Lucia] with every sense. He smelt with my eyes. He could see with his nostrils” (Omeros 44. 3. 65-66). St Lucia becomes an essence which the narrator utilizes in order to forge a new life and create a manageable future.

Joyce and Walcott‟s writings both show how the consciousness of the colonized becomes directly affected by the subjugation. History is an influence that is instilled within the minds of the islanders even after the intruding foreign empires have left the colony. Joyce notes in Ulysses how the Stephen is unable to escape colonialism even if he leaves Ireland. Stephen‟s consciousness continually reminds him that he originates from a country that is still subjugated by a foreign nation. Omeros presents a similar situation that deals with the minds of the postcolonial islander. Even after the oppressors have left

St. Lucia the islanders are unable to forget the past. The unnamed narrator in Omeros travels throughout the world and continually recognizes elements of colonialism that in other countries. These instances lead the narrator to feel the oppression of the colonial past even in lands far away from St. Lucia. Eventually, the narrator realizes that he is a product of the past and therefore he cannot escape St. Lucian history. The narrator learns to live with his memories in order for him to move through the postcolonial state. It is important to note that the narrator of Omeros differs from Stephen since he is able to come to terms with his colonial memories and not be debilitated. Overall both authors contend that the consciousness becomes a place which also becomes colonized. Foreign occupation of a country affects the minds of the native people as well as the physical nation. The intrusions which the British Empire enacted in Ireland and St. Lucia become memories that are forever carried by the islanders.

III. THE SEARCH FOR NATIVE IDENTITIES

Colonization affects the identities of the native people which it subjugates. The oppressors‟ culture and customs becomes an intruding force which supplants the native identity from the colony. As a country becomes colonized it also loses its indigenous characteristics and is driven to adapt the ways of the oppressors. As a result there is much difficulty in retaining or establishing individual identity amongst the native people. Joyce and Walcott both note in Ulysses and Omeros how colonization muddles the character of a nation and interrupts the formation of country‟s identity. The native cultures and traditions of a nation become spliced by the intruding alien customs of the colonials.

Additionally, the subjugated people must confront the difficulties which colonization impress upon them as they try to maintain their national identities. Ulysses displays the struggle of Leopold Bloom who attempts to rectify his position as an Irish citizen. Yet since Bloom is of Jewish descent he is not accepted by the Irish and is seen as an outsider. Joyce shows how colonization has created specific identities which separate the colonized and colonizers. Bloom becomes a character that is unable to fit into either category and therefore he becomes ostracized within the colonized nation. Omeros also displays a similar struggle for identity in which the character Achille tries to reclaim his original African ancestry. Achille leaves St. Lucia to rediscover his original heritage yet finds that he cannot return to an African that has not been affected by outside influences.

Instead, Achille must learn how to live with a hybrid identity which has been constructed

by various cultures and colonization. Ultimately, Joyce and Walcott both present characters who constantly struggle to find their identities in the wake of colonialism.

In Ulysses, Joyce presents the journey of Leopold Bloom as he travels throughout

Dublin while attempting to find his place in colonial Ireland. Bloom finds it extremely difficult to establish his identity in Ireland since he is perceived as a foreigner in the country. Bloom‟s Jewish heritage ostracizes him from being accepted into Irish society.

Although Bloom was born in Ireland he is perceived as being an intrusive outsider within the colony. Joyce depicts the difficulties which Bloom must endure in order to establish his allegiance and social position in colonized Ireland. Throughout Ulysses there are instances where various Irish characters denounce the infiltration of their country by foreign cultures. The British colonials are hated by the Irish yet the staunchest detestation is aimed against the Jews. The Irish character Garrett Deasy relays the outlook upon the

Jewish people existing in Ireland when he says “they are the signs of a nation‟s decay.

Whenever they gather they eat up the nation‟s vital strength. I have seen it coming these years. As sure as we are standing here the jew merchants are already at their work of destruction” (Ulysses 2. 348-350). Joyce exposes how in colonial Ireland there is a separation between all the people inhabiting the island. Either a person can be identified as Irish by their actions and embodiment of nationalist demeanor. Or, a person living in

Ireland can be seen as an invader who is attempting to damage the remaining cultural aspects of the colonized nation.

Consequently, Bloom is labeled as an outsider and ostracized by the Irish people who fail to see that Bloom shares the same subjugation they endure. The detestation

towards the Jewish people becomes culminated in the “Cyclops” episode of Ulysses.

Joyce presents Leopold Bloom as an Irish citizen with Jewish heritage that constantly becomes berated by his countrymen. The Irish characters perceive Bloom as a “half and half” (Ulysses 12. 1053) outsider who‟s heritage cannot be solely linked to Ireland.

Bloom is depicted as the archetypal “wandering Jew” character that is unable to find a home or a country to call his own. Finding personal identity becomes a problematic task for Bloom since he exists in a country divided by colonialism. Anthony Burgess argues in

Re-Joyce that “Bloom is ostracized because he is both Jewish and part Hungarian Jew – doubly a foreigner and, moreover, a man allegedly given to un-Irish practices” (144-145).

Bloom‟s unconventional mixed heritage leads him to be perceived by the colonized population as a threat to the remaining elements of Irish culture and nationalism. As a result, Bloom must continually struggle to find and establish his identity in colonized

Ireland.

In the “Cyclops” episode Joyce presents the character known as the Citizen who becomes representative of the Irish nationalist mindset. The Citizen is wary of any outside cultural influence that may deteriorate the Irish nation and its customs. Burgess contends that “the Citizen‟s vision is limited to the trampled-on-greatness of Ireland, the hopes of her re-birth, when the foul foreigner shall be driven out” (143). Consequently, when Bloom encounters the Citizen in a pub there is an immediate confrontation between the two opposing characters. Bloom‟s Jewish heritage leads the Citizen to denounce

Bloom‟s Irish ethnicity. Joyce exhibits this altercation in Ulysses in order to convey the difficulty which Bloom goes through in order to establish his identity in a colonial nation.

Bloom becomes identified as an outsider who is a possible threat to the remaining Irish 36

culture that still remains under colonialism. The Irish ostracize Bloom although he suffers the same oppression by the British Empire. In The Subaltern Ulysses, Edna Duffy notes how “Bloom was indeed a subject of the British empire, but specifically an Irish one, a subject of a late-colonial regime” (111). Accordingly, Bloom‟s identity is not only interposed by British colonization but also by the Irish population that reject him. Bloom attempts to prove to the Citizen and other Irish characters that he is a member of the same colonized nation. The Citizen makes his stance clear towards Bloom‟s residence in

Ireland when he states “we want no more strangers in our house” (Ulysses 12. 1151). The

Citizen advocates for an Ireland that is clear of any outside intruders who would be able to take away the nation‟s culture and heritage. Specifically, the Citizen directs his comments toward Bloom who represents the very “stranger” which the Irish seek to remove from their country. Yet Bloom counters the Citizen‟s xenophobic stance by arguing that “persecution, all the history of the world is full of it. Perpetuating national hatred among nations” (Ulysses 12. 1417-1418). Bloom tries to uncover the fact that discrimination and persecution against foreigners only mimics the actions of British colonialism; one culture attempting to dominate and subjugate another. Or in other words, by rejecting a people‟s nation, heritage and identity, subjugation is placed upon a certain population. Bloom attempts to rectify his citizenship in Ireland by acknowledging that he too suffers what the entire Irish community endures through colonialism.

Additionally, Bloom notes that his inhabitance in Ireland equates him to be just as an Irish citizen when he claims that “a nation is the same people living in the same place”

(Ulysses 12. 22-23). Yet the Citizen does not believe that Bloom‟s inhabitance in Ireland equates him as a citizen that has suffered equal subjugation as another Irish citizen. 37

Bloom further attempts to solidify his Irish nationality and heritage when he asserts “I was born here. Ireland.” (Ulysses 12. 1431) However, since Bloom does not embody the values and actions that reflect traditional Irish identity he continues to be rejected by the

Citizen. Nevertheless, Bloom further contests that he has endured an equal amount of suffering which connects him to his Irish counterparts when he reveals “I belong to a race too that is hated and persecuted. Also now. This very moment. This very instant…Plundered. Insulted. Persecuted” (Ulysses 12. 1467-1469). Yet the Citizen negates Bloom‟s connection of the Jewish people to the Irish since the Jews have not taken forceful actions against their oppressors. Bloom can only suggest to the Citizen that

“Force, hatred, history, all that. That‟s not life for men and women, insult and hatred”

(Ulysses 12. 1481). Bloom endeavors to make one more connection between the Irish and the Jewish people by revealing to the Citizens that “Your Saviour was a Jew and his father was a Jew. Your God. Your God was a Jew. Like me.” (Ulysses 12. 1806-1808).

Bloom points out that the very religion which the Irish nationalists follow is lead by entities who reflect Jewish heritage. The Citizen disregards that his religious leader was a

Jew and denounces the fact in order to forego Bloom‟s valid point. Joyce points out that the Irish nationalist mindset is problematic since it does not acknowledge other cultures as sharing the plight of subjugation. Additionally, the Citizen represents the Irish community that does not allow for foreigners to identify with Ireland or its colonial condition. Bloom is able to argue various points of connection between the Jewish people and the Irish yet he remains ostracized regardless of his sound arguments. Bloom is incapable of being considered as Irish since he does not fulfill the traditional attitude and mindset which the nationalists possess. Joyce reveals how in a colonized nation there

exist two groups which a person can be identified: native or foreigner. Overall, Joyce highlights Bloom‟s inability to establish his Irish identity in a nation that does not welcome outside cultures and thought.

Walcott presents a similar search for identity in Omeros by illustrating the journey of Achille who travels from postcolonial St. Lucia to Africa. Achille attempts to search for his ancestry after the fall of colonialism in order to find his true identity. In postcolonial St. Lucia, Achille is left to re-configure his identity that was spliced by the intrusion of the British Empire. By exiting the island Achille attempts to uncover his identity outside the influences of colonialism. Omeros details how the postcolonial islander must struggle to rid himself of foreign governance in order to re-claim his identity. Years of colonial oppression has weakened the ties to heritage which the islander lost. Colonialism interrupted Achille‟s cultural identity by making him a subject defined by a foreign nation. In doing so, Achille was made to adopt the customs, traditions, and mindsets which the foreign oppressors apply to him. Achille attempts to return to his country of origin in order to find the heritage he has lost. Achille recognizes that he is now able to seek out and embody the heritage which colonial oppression disallowed.

Walcott highlights Achille‟s struggle to find his identity in order to present how the islander must still deal with colonial oppression even in the postcolonial era.

Although the colonials have left St. Lucia their governance still exists upon the islanders through their identity. In the colonial era the natives become identified as the oppressed by the colonials and therefore must adopt this character. This subjugated identity is the

personality which Achille struggles to rid himself of in Omeros. Walcott notes how colonization‟s early infiltration of St. Lucian culture altered Achille‟s ancestry. Achille‟s heritage first becomes invaded by the British at an early point in St. Lucian colonial history. Achille‟s ancestor Afolabe becomes renamed by a British general as “Achilles” for aiding the empire win a decisive war in St. Lucia; “the small admiral with a cloud on his head renamed Afolabe Achilles, which, to keep things simple he let himself be called”

(Omeros 14. 163 – 164). This marks the first instance in Achille‟s history that becomes tainted by the actions of colonialism. Additionally, this moment in time also indicates when Achille‟s lineage begins to lose its original African ancestry. This loss of African heritage becomes an obstruction which disables Achille from uncovering his true identity outside of colonial constructs. Throughout his life in St. Lucia, Achille has only been able to identify himself as the subject of an empire defined by British governance. Therefore,

Achille‟s identity remained produced by colonial influences which made him “forget his parents, his tribe, and his own spirit” (Omeros 26. 14). The original African culture which Achille‟s family once contained was altered by the structures of a foreign nation.

Walcott notes how colonialism has changed Achille‟s sense of family and heritage by inserting them with factors of subjugation. Being oppressed by a foreign nation includes having heritage and identity being infiltrated by outside influences. In Achille‟s case,

African ancestry becomes changed at an early moment where his ancestor becomes renamed by a British general. Afolabe‟s name change becomes an act of colonialism since the foreign power takes away original identity and replaces it with a label of subjugation. By renaming Achille‟s ancestor the British prove their ownership over the

St. Lucian. Furthermore, the voluntary acceptance of the new name by Afolabe displays

how the islander has become completely defenseless and robbed of his esteem. Walcott displays this moment of colonialism in Achille‟s ancestry in order to show how far back foreign oppression reaches. Achille has been affected by generations of colonial control which has gradually taken away the islander‟s African identity.

It is not until Achille is able to travel outside the confines of postcolonial St.

Lucia that he is able to finally seek out shards of his lost identity. Walcott notes how the postcolonial era brings out Achille‟s self-awareness and prompts him to seek out the heritage and culture he had taken from his family. Now that the physical presence of the oppressors has gone Achille tries to return to Africa. Achille sails into the open ocean until he can no longer see St. Lucia and immediately feels a sense of interest in his identity. Achille finally recognizes himself as an independent person separated from colonial rule as he “for the first time, he asked himself who he was” (Omeros 26. 143).

This self-reflexive moment becomes the first liberated thought Achille is able to have since he has physically escaped the colonial confines of St. Lucia. Due to this newfound freedom Achille ventures out far out from the island in order to discover more of his true self in Africa. Achille reaches the shores of his native country and enters the village of his ancestors where he is greeted by his father. Achille‟s father senses that his son has become changed by some outside source and prompts him to reveal his altered identity:

Father: Achille. What does the name mean? You have forgotten the one that I gave you. But it was, it seems, many years ago. Achille: Well, I too have forgotten. Everything was forgotten. You also. I do not know. The deaf sea has changed around every name that you gave us; trees, men, we yearn for a sound that is missing (Omeros 3. 25. 93-101)

Achille can only shamefully confess to his father that he has forgotten what his name means or why he accepted the identity. This instance notes how Achille had become so accustomed to colonial governance that he never resisted against the British given name.

By accepting the new name Achille also further distanced himself from his original

African heritage. Achille admits that he has not only lost his original African name but also the native “sound” he once used to know. He is no longer able to speak the words which his ancestors spoke since his language has become colonized as well. Achille‟s father reveals to his son that “unless the sound means nothing. Then you would be nothing. Did you think you were nothing in that other kingdom” (Omeros 3. 25. 115-

122). Achille comes to realize that his original heritage and culture was taken by the forces of colonial oppression. Furthermore, Achille‟s father points out that without a sense of origin and family Achille does not have a sense of identity. As Achille spends more time in Africa he begins to learn about his native ancestry and realizes how his family ended up living in St. Lucia. Achille witnesses another tribe kidnap his family in order to sell them into slavery. He realizes that these prisoners will face the same loss of identity that he has suffered and “they‟d vanish into their souls. He foresaw their future.

He knew nothing could change it.” (Omeros 27. 56-57). Walcott presents this moment in order to display how colonialism has reached Africa. The very identity changing process which Achille sought to escape has become established in his home country. Achille realizes that the colonial element of slave trade exists in Africa. As a result, Achille completely abandons hope of finding a place that is free from colonial influence and returns back to St. Lucia. Achille recognizes that he cannot escape the effects of colonialism even if he travels across the world. The elements of colonialism have invaded

his home country and remain existent with the continuation of the slave trade. Therefore,

Achille cannot truly find the original African culture which he sought out at the beginning of his journey. Walcott presents this notion in Omeros in order to highlight the hybrid existence which Achille comes to represent. Since colonialism has infiltrated both

Africa and St. Lucia Achille becomes a permanent product of mixed cultures.

Since Achille is unable to re-claim his African culture he returns to St. Lucia.

Achille recognizes that he can only re-configure his identity in the familiar country where he was raised in a culturally mixed environment. Walcott exposes that Achille must cope with the past which created him in order to forge a new identity in the postcolonial present. Achille acknowledges that he must build an identity composed of his native

African heritage and the St. Lucian colonial culture. Ultimately, Achille can only be a person of fused cultural identity since he has grown accustomed to living within a multi- ethnic society. Therefore, Achille recognizes that he will forever live with an interrupted ancestry and identity. Walcott reveals how colonialism has utterly displaced Achille since he cannot recognize any country as his true homeland. Colonialism has intruded upon both Africa and St. Lucia leading Achille unable to find a home not tainted by foreign rule. Achille is left to develop his identity from the various places and cultures he become comprised of. In the postcolonial aftermath Achille finds identity in the familiar structures that once governed his life. St. Lucia becomes the location where Achille must compile his characteristics and forge a hybrid identity.

Both Joyce and Walcott present the search for identity as an actual excursion which characters undertake to seek out self-discovery. Both authors note that seeking for

identity becomes an arduous task further complicated by colonial influence and structures. Joyce presents how colonial Ireland creates a binary society which separates the Irish people from any foreign cultures or characters. Bloom attempts to prove his Irish heritage while maintaining his Jewish culture yet is ostracized by the natives. Since

Bloom does not embody the elements which represent “Irishness” then he is made to be an outcast by his fellow countrymen. Joyce notes that the Irish are unsympathetic to

Bloom‟s exiled and subjugated status which ironically is shared by the Irish. Walcott presents a similar problematic journey to establish identity in the travels of Achille. Years of colonial oppression have altered the character of the native African and made him into product of colonized culture. Achille attempts to return to his native land in order to re- gain his lost heritage yet he finds that Africa has also been infiltrated by colonialism.

Therefore, Achille acknowledges that he can only return to postcolonial St. Lucia where he recognizes familiar aspects of life. Walcott reveals that Achille can only build his identity from the remnants of colonialism since his life was produced by the effects of foreign rule. Joyce and Walcott present how the natives have a problematic time trying to establish their identities in times that are infiltrated by colonialism. Ulysses and Omeros both present characters that embark on journeys to find their identities in colonized countries. Bloom and Achille‟s travels display the difficulty in which the colonized must face in order to gain the personal characteristics which subjugation has taken from them.

In Bloom‟s case he must attempt to re-gain the elements which make him “Irish” in order to be accepted by his fellow countrymen. Similarly, Achille strives to be re-assimilated back into African culture in order to feel a sense of re-established identity. Yet both characters ultimately realize that they will forever be products which are identified and

marked by colonialism. Joyce and Walcott portray how colonialism is able to re-identify the colonized and separate them from their original heritage and identities. Overall, the fruitless journeys of Bloom and Achille demonstrate how colonialism is not only a physical act of subjugation but also an undertaking which transforms cultures and social perspectives.

IV. THE COLONIZER‟S PROBLEMATIC IDENITY

Establishing identity is not only problematic to the colonized but also to the colonizers as well. Joyce and Walcott note in Ulysses and Omeros how colonizers struggle to find their identities in colonial society. The intrusion of colonialism into a nation drastically alters social structures which were originally created by the native population. Colonizers become the new ruling class in the nations which they take over.

As a result, the colonizer must assume and establish the new dominant identity which colonization provides them. Yet this process becomes difficult due to the resistance which the natives present towards the colonizers. Ulysses demonstrates this scenario by presenting the struggle in which Haines the British colonizer must overcome in order to attain his dominant position in Ireland. Haines must prove his mastery over the Irish and their culture to fulfill the colonizer identity. Similarly in Omeros, the British character

Plunkett attempts to integrate himself into postcolonial St. Lucian society. Yet the natives do not accept Plunkett as a member of the island although he has lived amongst them throughout colonization. Plunkett strives to rectify his identity on the island by proving to the natives that he belongs equally belongs to St. Lucia. Ulysses and Omeros express the difficulty in which the colonizers must struggle through in order to assimilate themselves into a foreign nation. Both Joyce and Walcott present colonizers as characters who attempt to secure their prominence and social position among the natives.

In Ulysses, Joyce depicts the British colonizer Haines as a character who attempts to establish his position in Ireland during colonialism. Haines continually tries to assert his dominance over Stephen Dedalus and other Irishmen in order to gain his colonizer identity. The “Telemachus” episode of Ulysses highlights the struggle which Haines must overcome in order to prove his superiority over his Irish subjects. Joyce positions the

Irish characters Stephen Dedalus and Buck Mulligan in direct opposition of Haines‟ colonizer identity. Haines‟ attempts to fulfill his colonizer identity become strained by the Irish people who rebel against subjugation. Haines is first introduced in the

“Telemachus” episode as a colonizer staying with Buck Mulligan and Stephen in the

Martello Tower. Joyce places Haines within the residence of the Irish characters in order to allude to the British colonizer as being both an intruder and usurper of the Irish home.

These two facets which Haines represents disallow him to easily attain his dominant identity over the Irish. Haines becomes representative as the intruder since he is the embodiment of British colonial power existing within the Irish nation. Buck Mulligan and Stephen discuss their displeased attitudes towards Haines as the “Telemachus” episode opens. Buck Mulligan labels Haines as “a ponderous Saxon” (Ulysses 1. 51) who has forcefully entered and claimed Ireland as his property. Moreover, Haines is a vexation to the Irish since he continually attempts to assert his superiority over the native people. Buck Mulligan exclaims that because Haines is “bursting with money” and

“comes from Oxford” (Ulysses 1. 52) he claims immediate supremacy over the Irish.

Joyce presents how the English colonizer is able to rectify his colonial position through educational superiority and monetary wealth. Haines attempts to utilize these factors in order to rectify his colonizer position and identity over his Irish counterparts.

Furthermore, Haines degrades his Irish subjects by thinking of Stephen as “not a gentleman” (Ulysses 1. 51) in the eyes of an Englishman. Haines gauges the Irish characters against English standards and finds that the colonized are his subordinates.

Trevor Williams further substantiates Haines‟ colonizer view of the Irish when he states

“Haines does indeed see Stephen as a lower class kind of fellow” (88) which further substantiate Haines‟ colonizer identity. Since the Irish are unable to equate to Haines‟s

British standards then he sees them as inherently lower class people. Yet Buck and

Stephen do not account Haines‟ British perspectives as reasons to claim superiority over the Irish. Joyce exposes how difficult it is for Haines to attain his position of power due to the resistance from the Irish citizens. Although Haines feels that his position of supremacy is rectified he cannot completely achieve the identity of a British colonizer.

Haines attempts to demonstrate his dominant identity by proving his supremacy over the Irish by showing how he has conquered his subjects‟ culture and nation. Buck

Mulligan and Stephen descend into the bottom of the Martello Tower where they find

Haines. All three characters come together in order to have breakfast and tea as an old woman approaches the entrance of the tower. Joyce presents the Irish archetype of the

“old woman” who represents the downtrodden country of Ireland. Ireland is personified as “a wandering crone, lowly form of an immortal serving her conqueror” (Ulysses 1.

404-405). Haines embodies the conqueror figure as Ireland comes to serve him while

Stephen and Buck allow for their country to be subjugated by the British character. Joyce notes how Haines subjugates the “old woman” figure in order to prove his supremacy to the Irish characters. Additionally, Ireland enters the tower and Haines begins to talk to the

“old woman” in Gaelic yet she is unable to understand the language which the 48

Englishman is speaking. Haines mastery of the Gaelic language further equips him with the ability to conquer the Irish. By learning the language of the Irish Haines is able to dominate their culture as well their country. Shamefully, the “old woman” confesses her inability to recognize her own culture when she admits “I‟m ashamed I don‟t speak the language myself. I‟m told it‟s a grand language by them that knows” (Ulysses 1. 433-

434). Joyce notes how Ireland has lost her own language and it can only be found in the embodiment of the British Empire – Haines. Ironically, Haines is able to speak Gaelic to the “old woman” yet she is unable to understand her own native tongue. Trevor Williams argues that this “is a very embarrassing moment: not to be able to recognize the language of the very country one is supposed to be symbolizing is surely a deep humiliation.

Haines is utterly triumphant in this scene and is pleased to proclaim his identity: “I am an

Englishman” (78). Haines goes a step further and also shows his mastery over his Irish subjects when he dictates to Buck to “pay up and look pleasant” (Ulysses 1. 449) as the

“old woman” begins leaves the Martello Tower. Without hesitation Buck and Stephen willingly pay the expenses of their British oppressor. As the “Telemachus” episode closes the three characters exit the tower and Stephen voluntarily surrenders his ownership of the Martello Tower by giving Haines the keys to his home. Consequently, Haines becomes known as the “usurper” (Ulysses 1.744) since he is able to invade and overtake

Stephen‟s very home from him. After conquering the land and the culture, Haines is able to overtake Stephen and Buck from their very own home. Through these actions Haines is able to completely dominate his Irish counterparts and establish himself as the superior colonizer. Although the Irish characters attempt to reject Haines he ultimately is able to

fulfill his colonizer position. By displaying how he can conquer the Irish citizens, culture, and nation, Haines proves his dominance and gains his identity.

In the postcolonial setting of Omeros there also exists the struggle of the colonizer trying to establish his personal identity. Walcott presents the British character Sergeant

Major Plunkett who becomes the physical presence of colonialism in St. Lucia. Plunkett struggles to find his place within postcolonial St. Lucia after the British have abandoned the island colony. Plunkett continues to act and perform the role of the dominant British colonialist even after the St. Lucians have been liberated. Yet the Sergeant Major finds that his position and identity which was formed in the colonial era no longer applies in the postcolonial age. Therefore, Plunkett must struggle to attain a new identity which allows him to assimilate into the newly liberated St. Lucian nation.

Omeros first presents Plunkett as a character who attempts to retain the traditional colonizer identity by keeping “the sand grit in his throat, the Rover all that sort of stuff.

The khaki shorts that proclaimed his forgotten service” (5. 52-54). Even in the postcolonial era Plunkett finds himself mimicking the behaviors and dress of the colonial era. The language and accoutrements of the past become the signifiers which Plunkett attempts to utilize in order to retain his position in postcolonial St. Lucian society.

Additionally, Plunkett‟s mentality matches his colonial attire since he continually recalls how he and the British colonizers “helped [themselves] to these green islands like olives from a saucer, munched on the pith, then spat their sucked stones on a plate” (Omeros 5.

26-28). Consequently, Plunkett still envisions postcolonial St. Lucia as place which he can lay claim and authority to. Walcott exposes that fact that Plunkett attempts to keep

his dominant role as oppressor even in the postcolonial period. Yet it is this vision of inherent British superiority which complicates Plunkett‟s ability to find his identity in postcolonial St. Lucia.

Living in the aftermath of colonialism does not allow Plunkett to easily assimilate within liberated St. Lucia. The Sergeant Major‟s continual attempts to uphold the colonial past in St. Lucia expose his inability to progress into the postcolonial era.

Plunkett is unable to let go of his colonizer identity and thus he cannot establish a new position in St. Lucia. Maria McGarrity corroborates this notion when she contends that

“Plunkett can most accurately be described as a British colonial presence existing in postcolonial St. Lucia. He is a man burdened by the past, by a wound without further description present” (104). Therefore, Plunkett‟s fixation with the colonial past disallows him to progress into postcolonial St. Lucian society. Walcott reveals that Plunkett complicates his existence in St. Lucia since he cannot abandon the elements of the past which constructed his colonizer identity and mentality. The colonial past is the only perspective which the Sergeant Major believes in because to him “history was fact, history was a cannon” (Omeros 17. 34-35), Walcott highlights how even in the postcolonial period Plunkett still identifies the colony as a product of an empire‟s action.

As a result, Plunkett cannot establish himself amongst the liberated society of St. Lucia.

By inhabiting an island which is now ruled by the natives disables Plunkett from the ability to claim position and lineage in the country. Walcott shows how Plunkett attempts to wedge himself into the new St. Lucian society in the aftermath of colonialism.

Plunkett attempts to assimilate himself into the St. Lucian community yet this action

becomes complicated since the natives recognize him as former oppressor and as a foreigner. Although the Sergeant Major had lived amongst the St. Lucian people they will never truly accept him as a citizen of the island. Instead Plunkett realizes that he will forever be perceived as the remnant of colonial oppression. Plunkett acknowledges that

“he saw that their [St. Lucians] view of him would always remain one of patronage”

(Omeros 2. 10. 12). Ultimately, Plunkett attempts to find a way in which he the natives would accept him as a fellow St. Lucian. When Plunkett discovers that one of his British ancestors had died in battle protecting St. Lucia from the French he feels as if he finally belongs to the island‟s history. Plunkett tries to enlighten the St. Lucians of this fact yet they never acknowledged the history and only recognize Plunkett as a former colonial intruder. The natives‟ rejection towards Plunkett becomes highlighted when the Sergeant

Major confronts a van full of natives who label him as an “outsider” living in St. Lucia.

The enraged Plunkett furiously states: “ I am not a honky, a donkey perhaps, a jackass, but I haven‟t spent damned near twenty years on this godforsaken rock to be cursed at like a tourist” (Omeros 2. 51. 37 – 39). Yet the islanders dismiss Plunkett‟s claim and ignore his assertion that he should be perceived as a fellow St. Lucian. Walcott notes that

Plunkett will forever be perceived by the natives as an outsider even in the postcolonial era. Regardless of historical ties or time spent living on St. Lucia, Plunkett‟s colonial presence will forever be marked by the actions of the past. The natives will never allow for the former intruders to lay claim to their nation even in the postcolonial present.

Furthermore, the former colonial will never be able to establish himself as a non-intrusive figure amongst the native population. Plunkett is unable to find his place in the new society of St. Lucia since all British structures of familiarity are gone. The St. Lucians do

not regard Plunkett‟s many years of inhabitance on St. Lucia as proof that he is a fellow islander. Walcott highlights how the former colonizers are unable to absolve themselves of the past in the eyes of the islanders.

Both Joyce and Walcott depict the difficulties which the colonizers must struggle through in order to establish their identity in foreign nation. The physical presence of the colonizers creates hostility within the island between both the colonial and postcolonial times. Joyce notes how Haines must ultimately conquer all aspects of Irish culture and society in order to solidify his dominance over the islanders. Haines is able to fulfill his

British colonizer identity by mastering Ireland‟s language and displacing its citizens.

Walcott displays how the colonizer must also struggle in the postcolonial era in order to find their place in the newly liberated society. Plunkett‟s disillusioned view of postcolonial St. Lucia sets him further apart from being accepted into the newly forming island community. The islanders will forever perceive Plunkett as a figure of the colonial past and as an oppressor. Omeros highlights how Plunkett must manage to find his new place in the nation which he used to rule. Both Joyce and Walcott note how the colonizers‟ interaction with the natives disallows for easy an acceptance of hierarchical and societal change.

VI. CONCLUSION

Overview of Arguments

The similarities which exist within Ulysses and Omeros further link the lives and colonial experiences of Joyce and Walcott. The colonial history which Ireland and St.

Lucia share establishes the primary link between the lives of Joyce and Walcott. Each author experienced the occupation of their country by the British Empire who overtook their islands and the liberty of the natives. Not only did both authors endure British colonialism but they also expressed the effects of subjugation in their most famous literary works. The various similarities in both authors‟ texts display how colonialism can affect two different eras and nations in comparable ways. Walcott‟s Omeros echoes the emotions and messages which Joyce voiced almost fifty years before in Ulysses.

Joyce and Walcott note how living upon a colonized island disallows escape from the effects of colonialism. Most notably the shoreline becomes the most problematic area of the island which disables the islanders from escaping oppression. Joyce exposes how the immensity of the ocean becomes an indomitable obstacle to reaching freedom. The watery border of Ireland has the ability to physical keep Stephen from escaping Ireland and reaching freedom. Similarly, Walcott also notes how the coastal area of St. Lucia prevents some of the natives from escaping the postcolonial island. St. Lucia becomes drastically changed by colonialism and therefore reflects a land which is littered by the

residue of the past. Philoctete becomes wounded by the postcolonial coast and suffers an injury which does not allow him to leave St. Lucia. Unlike Stephen, Philoctete is able to overcome the burdens which the island geography creates yet both characters remain bound by colonialism. Joyce and Walcott expose how island geography maroons the natives from escaping the effects of colonial subjugation.

However, even if the islanders are able to leave the island they still are plagued by colonialism through their memories. The colonized cannot escape the fact that they and their country will remain affected by colonialism even if they escape the island. Stephen becomes reminded of Ireland‟s colonized state by the haunting visions of his dead mother. Although Stephen reaches Paris and seems to be free from colonialism he is reminded of the country which he has abandoned. These recollections lead Stephen to return to Ireland and be placed back into the control of the British Empire. Similarly,

Walcott‟s unnamed narrator character also becomes reminded of St. Lucia‟s postcolonial status through a mother figure. The narrator travels away from his homeland and into

America yet he continually remembers instances of the colonial past. Omeros displays how even in the postcolonial period the minds of the native are still affected by the past.

Yet there are some differences which occur between the lives of Stephen and the narrator which separate the two literary texts. Although both Stephen and the narrator return to their home countries it is the narrator who is able to find the homecoming a rewarding journey. The narrator realizes that he has returned to an island which is forming a new identity in the postcolonial era. Conversely, when Stephen returns to colonial Ireland he simply goes back to the bleak burden of subjugation. Despite the different endings

between the narrator and Stephen, both Ulysses and Omeros detail the journeys which the colonized embark upon in order to deal with colonialism.

The search for identity also becomes a theme which Ulysses and Omeros both share. In the colonial setting the individuality of the islander becomes supplanted by the culture and impositions of the oppressors. Joyce presents how Leopold Bloom seeks out his identity in Ireland and attempts to prove his Irish heritage. Yet due to the fear of outside influences that may degrade Irish culture, Bloom is ostracized by the majority of his countrymen. Bloom‟s Jewish heritage disables him from attaining the traditional Irish identity and therefore he is unable to establish himself as a native citizen of Ireland. Joyce notes that Bloom must remain as an outsider since he cannot fit into the nationalist nor colonialist groups. Walcott‟s character Achille also attempts to re-gain his ancestral identity by traveling back to his native Africa. Yet Achille discovers that he can no longer reflect the African identity since his life has been a product of St. Lucian creation.

Achille reflects the hybrid culture that exists in postcolonial nations due to the infiltration of outside influences. Unlike Stephen, Achille learns to manage his multifaceted identity in order to forge a new future for himself. Overall, both Joyce and Walcott present how the native‟s identity becomes troublesome to establish due to the interference of colonialism.

Accordingly, colonizers also struggle to place themselves within the nation they overtake. The British oppressors look to establish and affirm their dominance over the native people. Yet resistance from the natives complicates the colonizer‟s task of proving their supremacy over the islanders. Joyce‟s British character Haines must substantiate his

dominance over his Irish subjects by showing his mastery of their nation and culture. In order to be revered by the Irish people Haines must fulfill the identity of the British colonizer. Sergeant Major Plunkett also has a problematic struggle with finding his identity in postcolonial St. Lucia. Plunkett‟s dominance no longer has validity in a country that the British have relinquished ownership. Therefore, Plunkett attempts to assimilate himself into a nation that will forever perceive him as a remnant of the oppressive past. Haines and Plunkett both seek to become identified differently by the natives of the island. Haines is able to claim his dominant role in Ireland by proving his supremacy over the Irish people and their language. Yet Plunkett is unable to establish himself as a citizen of St. Lucia since he cannot shed the guise of being a colonizer.

These differences between the two British characters illustrate how the colonial and postcolonial setting affects the lives and identities of the outsiders. Joyce and Walcott both note how colonialism alters the identities of all people who become affected by the process of one nation conquering another.

Implications and Further Study

By presenting these similarities between Ulysses and Omeros new directions in the Joyce/Walcott literary relationship can be discovered. In this thesis I specifically note how important island geography is in linking both the lives and literature of Joyce and

Walcott. The physical setting of Ulysses and Omeros has not always been studied and therefore it became a unique resource which I analyzed in both texts. After reading both texts I realized how the ocean is an outstanding element in both works and it serves as a form of transportation away and to the islands. Joyce and Walcott continually mention

the presence of the ocean and its domination character since it surrounds the island landscape. Furthermore, I feel that both authors suggest that the island natives are defined in their culture and mentality by the ocean. I would argue that perhaps the lives and literature of Joyce and Walcott were so similar due to both authors living in countries surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean. I believe that more connections between Joyce and

Walcott can be uncovered by looking beyond the shoreline and analyzing other geographic factors which are unique to Ireland and St. Lucia. Conceivably, an island‟s physical shape or natural resources could also be an aspect which determines how it is colonized. I would have liked to analyze if both Ireland and St. Lucia contained a certain crop or terrain that the British found valuable and lead to colonization. Overall, I feel that both texts need to be revisited and analyzed from a geographic perspective in order to yield newer links between Joyce and Walcott.

Additionally, this thesis also presents how the consciousness of the colonized becomes affected by foreign intrusion. The specific analysis between Ulysses and

Omeros promotes the notion that colonization does not only occur in tangible forms of domination. Instead, I highlight that the consciousness also becomes a space which is affected by outside influences and can become colonized. This implicates the idea that there could be more similarities to discover between Ulysses and Omeros which deal with the mentalities of the colonized. I first became intrigued with this notion when I read how

Stephen‟s mind became plagued by the ghost of his mother in the “Telemachus” episode.

Later as I read more into Ulysses and I found that Leopold Bloom also recollected suppressed memories throughout the novel. Both these characters would attempt to ignore colonialism yet ultimately they could not eradicate it from their consciousness. 58

After reading Ulysses and Omeros I noted how the colonized islanders‟ minds became affected so immensely and how this translated into the literature of Joyce and Walcott. I found it interesting how one could differentiate how the mentality of the colonized native differs from that of the postcolonial. I would surmise that there are deeper and more intense effects which occur to the consciousness in the postcolonial setting than in the colonial era. Furthermore, I would also find it interesting to discover if the mentalities of characters in other novels by Joyce and Walcott are similarly affected.

The search for identity is another similarity which both Ulysses and Omeros share. This thesis brings to light the struggle which both the colonized and colonizer must overcome in order to attain their identities during and after colonialism. I believe it is important to note that the intrusion of a foreign empire upon another country reconfigures social and cultural systems. As seen in Ulysses, Bloom is unable to fit into either side of the cultural binary which colonialism places upon Ireland because of his mixed-heritage.

Similarly in Omeros, Achille cannot identify himself as St. Lucian not African since he has become a combination of both cultures. After reading about Achille‟s journey to find his identity I found that colonization disrupts a native people‟s cultural identity and creates a nation saturated with various influences. Achille became a person who was created through various cultural clashes and diffusions which left him as a multifaceted representation of colonization. Being defined by Africa, Caribbean, and English culture leaves Achille to reconstruct himself in the fallout of a war between various ideologies and histories. This becomes an interesting point which could be further analyzed in order to discover what the long-term effects are on the colonized. I feel that much could be learned about the aftermath of colonization by studying what factors of a foreign culture 59

the natives assimilate into their new identities and why they choose these elements.

Moreover, the possibility of re-gaining original heritage after colonialism could be another source of inquiry.

This thesis also presents the unique notion of how colonizers‟ identities become affected by the process of colonization. I feel that the effect of colonization upon the intruders has always been an aspect that has been overlooked by many studies on colonial/postcolonial literature. While reading Omeros I found Major Plunkett to be a character who had to struggle just as much as the colonized islanders to find his place amongst the chaos of colonization. Plunkett‟s attempts to pass himself off as the authority figure in postcoloial St. Lucia became truly made an effect on my analysis of Omeros. I wondered why Plunkett would try to keep the notions and accouterments of the past once the British had left St. Lucia. I came to realize that both colonized and colonizers lost some sort of identity and humanity due to the process of colonial imperialism. Ulysses and Omeros demonstrate that colonizers are not able to simply enter a colony and instantly become the dominant figures. Both British characters, Haines and Major

Plunkett, must struggle to fulfill the colonizer‟s identity in the lands they invade. This fact becomes a unique perspective which this thesis presents and allows for new insight to be brought upon the roles of the colonizers. I feel that more study can be done on how the colonizers attain their roles of governance and what actions need to be taken in order for the colonized to accept their subjugators. Moreover, it would be interesting to compare the difficulties in which the colonizers and colonized must overcome in order to rectify their identities during and after colonialism. Overall, I seek to prove that it is

equally important to identify that colonialism not only affects the natives but also the intruders.

Conclusion to Thesis Study

Ulysses and Omeros are the most famous and influential works by Joyce and

Walcott. Not surprisingly, these texts are full of societal and historical revelations which enable its readers to find more than just entertaining narratives. In fact, Joyce and Walcott seem to have written their most seminal works in order to expose and educate the world about the penalties of colonization and subjugation. Ulysses and Omeros share the overarching theme that colonialism does not discriminate who or where it affects. Ireland and St. Lucia are both similarly disturbed by colonialism regardless of being separated by distance and time. Additionally, these two literary works show how people of any race, religion, or culture can be overtaken and influenced by the process of colonization.

Moreover, each work exposes the ironic fact that both the colonizer and colonized have their lives changes by colonization. Whether it is identity, societal position, or physical freedoms, either side becomes disrupted when one nation attempts to subjugate another.

Joyce and Walcott seek to uncover the underlying political significance of their works in order to change world views upon colonization and imperialism. The characters in

Ulysses and Omeros are more than just literary creations – they represent the actual people who have endured subjugation and conquest throughout history. The circumstances and conditions exposed by both authors verify the argument that colonial countries and citizens have and will share similar wounds of oppression unless all forms of colonization are eradicated.

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Coohill, Joseph. A Short History: Ireland. Oxford. Oneworld Publications. 2000.

Duffy, Edna. The Subaltern Ulysses. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1994.

Hamner, Robert. Derek Walcott. Boston: Twayne Publishers, 1981.

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